Boysenberry
by Imyoshi
Summary: A dancer and hoverboarder shared a common trait—a center of balance. Without balance, gravity would topple them over and throw their whole equilibrium into whack. Jaune Arc preferred the ground over the air, but Reese Chloris preferred the air over the ground. Somewhere, somehow, someway, they found a balance between the two and managed to dance on the air.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of RWBY.

* * *

 **Boysenberry**

 **By: Imyoshi**

 _Bleh_!

Maybe a trip to Vale wasn't such a good idea.

Jaune Arc lurched forward, stomach contents currently being disposed of in a nearby trashcan, and sighed when the queasiness of his stomach finally settled. A few students passing by were taking some bouts of pity on him, others stayed away from the smelly garbage can, and fewer didn't care. The bag was a mix of Beacon and exchange students for the upcoming Vytal Festival next week.

Nonetheless, he had prayed that his Aura could bypass the weakness of his motion sickness during the Bullhead flight, but he had been dreadfully wrong. Aura was many things, but a motion sickness tablet it was not.

Groaning, he gripped the edge of the metal sourly, huffing in awkwardness. Even something as simple as flying proved to be a challenge to him. It wasn't as if he came to Vale to escape, only to think. He just needed to clear his head and think about the upcoming Vytal Festival, more importantly, the tournament part.

The idea of fighting in front of a crowd of millions didn't tie his stomach into a series of knots; it was the chance of making himself out the fool in front of said millions. Undoubtedly, his family would be watching the tournament unfold. They always watched the Vytal Tournament, and if things went south, well, what would his seven sisters think if their only brother looked like an idiot in front of millions?

He didn't even want to consider his mother and father.

Wiping his chin clean of vomit, Jaune frowned and started walking around Vale. He had no endpoint set in mind, preferring the adventure over the destination. This big and diverse city just allowed him to clear his mind and think. Being away from his team was for the best. Nora didn't exactly allow one to think and Pyrrha was all over the place, trying to prepare for yet another tournament.

It was the first time he'd ever seen his partner so worked up. It made sense when he thought about it. Pyrrha lived for those tournaments. He saw the fire burn in her eyes whenever she competed in a fight. She lived for fighting. Whenever she fought, be it, class or Grimm, she remained strong and confident. For a girl who hated the pedestal with all her heart, she definitely earned the right to be on one.

Pyrrha probably wouldn't understand his nervous butterflies.

So he left.

A little air and alone time might just be the jolt he needed to quell the uneasiness in his stomach. These goosebumps couldn't last forever. A few hours, maybe a day or two, and everything would be back to normal. It was simply a phase and nothing more. Jaune made sure to boldly believe that and kept on walking, turning a quick corner without looking.

 _Crash_!

Stumbling back from the sudden collision of a speeding body, he quickly managed to upright himself before he fell, balancing easily on the soles of his shoes with dancer etiquette. A board crashed into his chest and he barely managed to wrap his arms around it, still stunned by the crash. Somewhere in the background, he heard the telltale oomph that followed, noticing how it sounded feminine and getting that confirmation when he peered down to see a green-haired, purple wearing hoodie girl lying flat on her butt.

He saw the tension on her face with the way she rubbed her rear. The concrete floor couldn't be the most comfortable place to fall down on, especially not after a harsh crash like that.

Being a proper gentleman about it, Jaune resumed suitable protocol and stuck to courtesy one-o'-one, the crash was inevitably his fault. He stuck his hand out and offered her help with a harmless smile.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where—?"

The girl slapped his hand away, picking herself up with an air of confidence he sorely lacked. She appeared fine, or tried to at the very least, failing quite terribly with the way one of her hands remained on her butt. At least the tomboyish grin sort of made the situation less awkward, but he deeply wondered what the face-paint on her cheeks was for.

"Quit it with the apology. I'm not blind. We crashed into each other."

Her soft voice contradicted her boisterous outfit. It still retained a scratchy undertone fit for a sport enthusiastic, but the softness had caught him off-guard and made him linger with his own voice robbed. Not like he wasn't used to being around a sports-loving girl, ergo some of his sisters, but her hair sort of threw him off and he didn't expect such gentleness.

Shaking his head, he laughed and handed her back the board. "Alright then, uh, I think this belongs to you. I'm still sorry."

She rolled her eyes at the apology, plucking the board out of his hand. "So, who do I owe the pleasure of messing up my rhythm? The name's Reese Chloris, by the way. Learn it. Like it. Love it."

He humped and grinned. "You can call me Jaune Arc. The name's sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."

Reese blinked and zeroed in. "Are you sure? I'm guessing it's kind of hard to make any girl fall off her feet when that's on your chest."

Jaune looked down at the bunny logo on his hoodie. Not liking anyone dissing the bunny, he fired back. "Really, because you just did?"

It was a harmless joke—one that he hoped worked. It did and Reese was laughing while fighting back her traitorous smile. Not to say he enjoyed it when people laughed at his attempts of suaveness, but somehow it was a confidence booster. Still, her laughing and soft voice made him feel worse about knocking her down. Reese could say what she wanted, but Jaune should've been paying more attention to his surroundings.

Clearly, he was terrible at hiding his emotions, because her smile died and she huffed in annoyance. A quick wave of her hand reprimanded him for being so dumb.

"Are you still worrying over my fall? Get over it already. I'm fine! What about you?" Reese paused and suddenly glared with fists to hips. "Hey? What about you? Did you even fall? I wasn't exactly going two miles an hour."

He shrugged. "Uh, no, I kind of just balanced myself up before I could. It wasn't that hard."

Reese seriously begged to differ. Many people took the concept of balance as nothing more than everyday life. Balancing demanded a center of gravity that people took for granted. She knew being a hoverboarder and all. Not just anyone could upright balance themselves after the collision they had. That required some serious footwork. Controlling one's center of mass in split-second timing wasn't a trait, but a skill practiced to an exhausting state.

She was still learning to control her center of mass at such a level.

She scoffed and flicked him on the shoulder. "Not that hard my butt! That's some serious legwork you have there. Wish I had that. Where'd you learn it?" He remained mute and Reese leaned forward. "Hello? I'm talking to you. Have you gone deaf?"

Jaune sighed and kept his voice low. "I used to dance... a lot. It kind of just happened."

"You dance?"

"I used too!"

She regarded his humble appearance and pinched her nose. "Yup! I can totally see it."

Now he raised his voice with his arms thrown up. "What do you mean you can totally see it? That's not exactly something I want to be known for! It's embarrassing for a guy to know how to dance the way I do, like it's embarrassing for a girl, uh—?"

Reese smirked and tapped her board on his chest. "To be a hoverboarder with hair like this? Trust me, I know, Twinkle Toes. I guess we're both weirdoes."

He blinked, unsure what to say to the nickname Twinkle Toes. Instead, Jaune threw his head back and groaned. "I didn't mean it like that. There's nothing wrong if you like to hoverboard. It's just, I mean—can you do me a favor and just ignore me; I'm being dumb right now."

She laughed. "Yea, you are, but I can dig it. But now I gotta know! If you're such a great dancer... how'd I end up crashing into you? I wasn't going too fast where you couldn't avoid me with quick feet such as yours. Something got your mind jumbled up?"

"I just..." he frowned. "I just had a lot of things on my mind, so I went out for a walk around the Kingdom. I guess I was too distracted to notice you before it was too late."

Reese hummed in delight and sat down on her hoverboard, floating in the air for his still somewhat fleeting amazement. Of course, she winced once her butt touched metal, still sore from the fall.

"Tell me about it! There's always something bugging me, but a ride around the Kingdom always helps clear my head. Sucks that I'm not from Vale. Still getting used to the streets here. I guess we both had our heads in the clouds."

"Wait? If you're not from Vale, then where are you from?"

She flexed her arms. "Mistral! You're looking at the number one student at Haven Academy! We're going to dominate the Vytal Tournament!"

He would believe her any other day, but this was the girl who fell flat on her rear. Excuse him for being skeptical. "Really? You're the best. Then my team's going to have no problem winning the Vytal Tournament. All I need to do is knock you off your board and you're done."

"Oh?" she smirked, body leaned forward. "Is that a challenge, Beacon Boy?"

He didn't feel the need to ask how she figured him out so fast. It was plainly obvious that he attended Beacon with Vale being his home turf. However, an Arc never backed down from a challenge, especially not from a girl who needed a hoverboard to reach his full height.

Without uttering a word, he lightly tapped her on the shoulder and almost made her fall, but she flipped herself upright and turned the board so she would remain stuck in midair, avoiding collision with concrete and body with both her arms wrapped tightly around the device.

His light smirk betrayed his innocence. "Uh, my hand slipped?"

When she fixed her center of gravity, she hovered closer to him, noses practically touching, before laughing and playfully kicking him in the chest.

"You're fun! Definitely better than my teammates! They could be real lame when they want to be, especially my partner. She's a real stick in the mud. It's tough being the cool one. But you would know all about that, right, lady killer?"

"I'm not so sure. I've been striking out with this girl I really want to—why am I telling you this?"

Reese grinned, threw her body back and used her thighs to hang upside down on her hoverboard, laughing like a monkey hanging on a tree. With the way she hovered and edged her body, he found it increasingly difficult to believe she fell flat on her butt like some chump. The scene only grew more unbelievable with her revealing her Huntress-in-Training status.

"Ha!" she offered him an upside-down smile. "So, where to now, Jaune? I got time to kill and I'm bored and you're not boring."

Wow.

What a winning combination.

Jaune almost stared at her brassiness but figured he could definitely use the distraction. "Beats me, I'm just letting the wind take me until my feet can't carry me anymore."

She flipped herself over, resting her body on the board with her arms propping her head up and feet up. "So? What are we waiting for? Get moving! I'll be right behind you. You could tell me more about your team that I'm gonna throttle."

He moved and her board followed. "I'm pretty sure it's the other way around. You must've hit your head pretty hard when you fell."

Reese had at least three quips waiting on the tip of her tongue, but her sense of smell beat her to the punch, catching whiff of a terrible odor lurking nearby. She swiftly sat up on her board and pinched her nose, eyes scrunched up in mild disgust.

"Ew! Gross! Dude, what reeks? It smells like someone died."

A little harsh, but he bit back that comment. Instead, Jaune pointed at the nearby trash bin. "That's coming from that trash can over there. I kind of threw up after landing."

She coughed. "What? Eat a bad burger or something? Don't worry, I've been there. Last time I buy a burger that's only a day past the expiration date."

He had many questions to ask, but stayed focus and rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Nah, it's nothing like that. I just have motion sickness... and the ride on the Bullhead didn't exactly help with that on the way down."

She motioned her board to hover at his face level, blinking. "Really? Motion sickness? You? You're not just trying to pull one over me, are you? Because if you are, then you'll have to do better than that. That's just weak. I mean, c'mon, seriously, what kind of Huntsmen has motion sickness?"

He puffed out his bunny hoodie chest. "Hey! Motion sickness is a real problem that affects millions every day. You should feel sorry for me."

"I do."

Jaune gasped and bumped his shoulder into her hoverboard, trying his best to ignore her cruel chuckling. Reese only grinned and spun in the air, doing amazing acrobatic stunts on a hoverboard, but when she jumped off her device, she barely stuck the landing, even going as far to use her hands to level her body properly with a slight wobble. She still had to touch the ground lightly to upright herself up.

His tactical mind saw this and put two-and-two together. "You know, first the fall and now this, you're pretty clumsy on the ground. Your balance is all out of whack. If you were a normal person, I wouldn't expect differently, but since you're a Huntress. Well..."

Reese huffed and blew a strand away, making sure to point directly at the trashcan. "Whatever! At least I don't have motion sickness."

Playing her game, he reached down and grabbed the hoverboard, handing it to her with a harmless grin. "What kind of Huntress can't even land on her own two feet?"

Not one to back down, she stood up and pushed her chest to his, only now realizing how tall this dumb jerk was. She barely reached his neck and she wanted nothing more than to wipe off his smirk. However, instead of playing push or be pushed, Reese hummed at his question. What kind of Huntress couldn't land on her own two feet? And, seriously, what kind of Huntsmen had motion sickness?

They were two peas in a pod.

As much as she hated to admit it, her quick-footwork could use more practice. She was far from graceful on her feet. In the sky, she was second to none, but the ground had her trembling at the worst of times. Not to say she couldn't run, maneuver, and jump as well as the next guy, because she definitely could, but when push came to shove, shove normally won.

Grinning, she hit him in the chest and leaned on his shoulder. "You know what, you're dead on. We're both lousy Huntsmen!"

"I didn't say—!"

"Shut up! I have an idea to fix this! What if we help each other fix the other one's problem?" She emphasized her point by kicking his feet. "You have twinkle toes and I have an iron stomach! So how about it? I scratch your back and you scratch mine?"

Jaune titled his head, moving his finger between the two of them. "What you're saying is that you'll help me get over my motion sickness if I teach you how to be light on your feet?" Reese grinned in approval. "You do know that if we go through with this, there's going to be dancing involved on my end, right?"

"Don't spoil this."

He crossed his arms. "And if I refuse?

Reese said nothing and stepped onto her hoverboard. Gaining a quick burst of speed, she moved into an angular curve before floating into the air and doing an aerial-based corkscrew spin. Somewhere during the spin, she lost momentum and balance and ended up falling straight into Jaune's arms, smile still grand. When he noticed no visible signs of nausea, his stomach lurched at the idea of being motion sickness free and growled at the idea of him skipping such an offer.

"Well?" Reese teased, dangling her feet off his arm. "What's it going to be, Vomit Boy?"

Whelp, how was he supposed to walk away from that? "Fine! I'm in."

She socked him on the shoulder, shaking the Arc with positive determination. "Cool! Let's shake on it!"

 _Spit_!

"Did you just spit into your hand?"

"... No."

...

Reese curtly decided she deserved to be first.

If she believed in the motion of lady's first, she pointedly ignored it and mushed Jaune straight to the nearest park.

Once there, she refused to give any inclination to the activities they'd practice to help Jaune control his motion sickness. She had simply pushed her hoverboard into his hands and grinned.

"Here! Try it out, but don't you dare get a scratch on Mattel!"

Confused, he inspected the device and held it out at arm's length. It didn't appear like much. It certainly was heavy, heavier than he remembered the first time grabbing it. Must be because it was on again? He didn't really know. Carefully, he placed the board down and it hovered off the ground, remaining motionless in a perpetual state.

Everything appeared to be in working condition, and with the confidence needed to sneak into Beacon Academy, he slowly placed one foot on the hoverboard, following with his second until his whole body stood on the hovering board.

So far, so good.

Keeping his center of gravity at point, Jaune shrugged, not seeing the harm and lightly tapped his front foot forward.

That was where things turned bad real fast.

The shifting of his body suddenly accelerated the hoverboard forward and he threw his hands back in circles to shift his center of mass in order to keep some semblance of balance. However, by throwing his body back, he unknowingly arched his other foot back, applying force to the back of the board and aiming it up, suddenly zooming him into the air in a constant velocity.

Reese blinked at the way Jaune was screaming his lungs out, wondering what happened to Vomit Boy's balancing act. Maybe she should've warned him about how sensitive the scales on her board were before throwing him into the fire. She also probably should've told him about arm placements and leg bending. Never mind the gravity aspect of riding a hoverboard.

Whelp, the best she could hope for was him not crashing and burning. It was a learning experience, yea, a definite learning experience.

"How do you control this crazy thing?!"

Reese hid a smirk behind her palm, openly enjoying the way Jaune screamed his lungs out. He held onto Mattel like his life depended on it, spinning in barrel rolls in the air. Surely, without a single doubt, his motion sickness would kick in—and there it was. A green face that matched her own hair color lurked across his entire forehead and he glomped her weapon with a deep frown and deeper hum.

Jaune had long abandoned standing on the board, more inclined to grasping her weapon with his body and two arms, feet dangling in the wind. It was interesting to watch him spin out of control. He was certainly picking up massive speed in such a pose, cutting his air resistance by a good margin with gravity working against him and accelerating his downward spin.

The harsh crash to the grassy floor was inevitable, his quick run to the bushes was inescapable, and stopping her growing grin was next to impossible. All of it made her laugh her guts out, almost wheezing at his predicament. She didn't even mind the few scratches on Mattel, knowing the priceless moment she just witnessed was well worth it.

"Oh! This is just too rich!"

Reese sighed with a happy tear. How could one so graceful on their feet have such a weak stomach? Motion sickness! Of all things for a future Huntsman to be plagued with and it had to be motion sickness! The perplexing thought made her laugh even harder.

Ignoring her laughter, Jaune removed himself from the bushes and glared at the tomboy with a withering frown. "Oh! Sure! Laugh now! Just wait what I have planned for you!"

Reese smirked. "Can't be worse than crashing and burning."

Reese was certainly right about one thing. There wouldn't be any burning, but crashing was all up to her. Until then, he needed to get the hang of this death machine and conquer the sky. Teaching Miss Stumble and Fall was going to eat up away at all his available time and he didn't want to be stuck between practicing and teaching. He first had to overcome his motion sickness.

Jaune grabbed the board and prepared to jump back on, frowning with a terrible sigh, but she stopped him and yanked the board out from underneath his feet.

"Whoa! Whoa! Hold up, dummy. As much as I would love to watch you eat dirt again, clearly, you screaming like a little girl won't solve a thing. So, I have an idea!" She jumped onto her board, throwing a quick thumb back. "Get on! I'm gonna teach you the joys of flying through the air!"

He considered the plan, thinking over all the things wrong with sharing a single board, but she made a show by pouting. "This is going to end badly. You know that, right?"

"What are you, Mr. Negative? Where's your sense of adventure? Or do you want to have motion sickness for the rest of your life?"

He wouldn't dare accept that fact at face value and begrudgingly accepted her offer, making sure to move his legs in between hers and wrap his arms around her stomach. Now it was apparent how close their two bodies were and Reese suddenly lost a lot of her confidence, as too Jaune, only now seeing the issues with her half-baked plan.

Still, she was never one to admit defeat and the thought of having scaredy-cat being right proved to be all the motivation she needed to not back down!

"Hold on to your pants!"

One foot pushed forward and they're off, zooming across the park in growing acceleration. The Gravity Dust acted as a factor to help her combat against the constant force of gravity pressing down on them, while the Barrier Dust from within cut out air resistance when needed to build-up enough speed. The design of the board—and usage of Barrier Dust—allowed air to be pushed underneath, which lifted the board and overcame their combined weight.

Soon they're out of the park, flying over Vale's buildings with the air in their face. The action of them being so close was easily lost on them, both for varied reasons. Reese loved the air too much to care and Jaune's external panic erased such uncomfortable issues, way more focused on the growing distance between them and the hard ground.

Reese bent her knees and tilted her body, forcing Jaune to move, and turned into an angle to build up speed. She suddenly zoomed down in a straight, downward arc, arms spread out and gushing with the breeze in her face. The wind blocked out Jaune's screams, and at the last possible moment, she pushed her back foot down and used the built up acceleration as a slingshot to pick up a massive amount of air and speed.

"Isn't this great? Nothing beats the wind in your hair!"

He easily disagreed, screaming as the ground grew distant with ever increasing speed. Jaune Arc held onto Reese Chloris' stomach for dear life, trying his hardest not to scream. He was saving it just in case he fell. The ground was a long way down.

"Are you sure this is safe?"

He saw Reese grin from the corner of her mouth. "Don't sweat it! I have elbow and knee pads on."

Somehow, he felt less safe.

Smirking, she tilted her body back and propelled them into the air, acting like a mini vortex. It was similar to Jaune's early spin, but perfectly controlled and little chance of crashing and burning. However, the results from the spin were rearing their ugly head and he groaned into her ear, feeling his stomach stabbing his back from the inside.

Reese picked up on this and yelled over the wind. "You better not chunk on me or I'm so gonna let you have it!"

Easier said than done, but he breathed and tried to ignore the building nausea, hoping to focus on anything else. Yet, he had little options but the turbulence acting around his entire body. It didn't help that she continued on spinning like some mad woman.

Desperate, he closed his eyes and held onto her stomach tighter, burying what little of his pride into her back. It was there his nose picked up on a pleasant scent—a strong and pleasing smell that overpowered his senses and made him open his eyes to find the source. When it became apparent it was coming from his current partner, he leaned in and breathed in the aroma.

Instantly, his queasy stomach settled underneath the onslaught of perfection and the leader studied the girl helping him conquer one of his biggest weaknesses. Being so close to her, he noticed a few things about this impossibly tough and fearless girl. She loved freedom and dancing in the air if the hoverboard was any indication. For someone so rough and crass, she was soft and smelled like peppermint.

By focusing on her and not the ground beneath his feet, or air speeding across his hair, his motion sickness never made a returned. He barely even realized they had been racing down in a tailspin until she leaned and pressed her back into his chest, turning their downward spiral into an elevated hover above the ground at the nick of time.

While safe from turning into pancakes, he had a hard time ignoring the speed they were going and the lack of slowing. That maneuver of hers had gained a tremendous amount of speed. Too bad an incoming brick wall threatened their path. Reese had forgotten to account for Jaune's added weight and decided too late to tilt the board back in hope to zoom up.

She laughed awkwardly and turned to grin harmlessly at the distracted Arc. "Hehe, just to let know, we're going to crash."

He moved before he could think, reacting out of instinct and gripped her stomach tightly, glaring with a stubborn resolve. Before she realized what was happening, he jerked his legs and flipped their position, turning her hoverboard a complete one-hundred and eighty degrees and lifted her body ever so slightly.

 _Crash_!

Reese opened her eyes a few seconds later, not realizing she had closed them, and gazed down at the arms wrapped tightly around her midriff. They're locked in place, strong and firm. She doubted she had the strength to pry them open.

Following the path to their owner, she looked up and found the Arc frowning, clearly dazed from the high-velocity impact. It wasn't hard to see why. Even she saw the cracks in the walls. They're deep, to say the least.

This was the _second_ time she crashed into his chest.

She squirmed in his hold. "Hey? Hey! Are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me." Jaune groaned, wincing in pain. "I have a lot of Aura. Are _you_ okay?"

She ignored the question. "You didn't have to do that. I have my own Aura, you know. I know how to tank a hit as much as the next person."

He smiled painfully. "Yea, I know, but it was my fault you fell the first time. I didn't want to be the reason you got hurt a second time."

She wanted to roll her eyes. There he went again with taking all the blame for himself when this had been entirely her fault. She should've accounted for the weight distribution and how their combined center of mass affected their stability. Her balance had been out-of-whack.

Frowning, she knew his type now. He was too thick-headed to accept anything less than the accident being his fault after apologizing three times. That level of denseness couldn't be broken, so she sighed and relaxed into his chest. As much as she wanted to move, Reese also didn't want to.

Her small body fits perfectly into his. For a cowardly guy, he definitely packed some mean muscle underneath that bunny hoodie of his. She felt it. What kind of training did he push himself into? Either way, it didn't matter. She was just stoked and grateful he blunted all the damage, even if she hated it.

Chivalry was supposed to be dead. "Whatever! Let go of me already! I need to find my board."

"Oops! Sorry!"

She removed herself and found Mattel stuck within cement, only having a few scratches. With a stubborn grace, she pulled the weapon free and dusted off the dirt, happy for the little damage. Then again, she did build it to last.

Turning over, she noticed Jaune's lack of queasiness as he dug himself out the crater. Good. He must've found a way to hold back his vomit. That made her smile. If he had ended up throwing up on her, that would've seriously pushed her buttons.

She smirked and jumped in front of him. "Ready for round three?"

He groaned. "Now? Really? We just crashed!"

She remained nonchalant. "You wanna wait for the store owner to get out here?"

"What are we waiting for? Let's get a move on!"

If she found herself impressed with his ability to push her after taking such a beating, then she wisely said nothing and hopped onto her hoverboard. The ride out of the plaza was quick and not so death-defying, and without the sharp turns, twists, or drops to distract her, she was forced to deal with his body pressed so close to hers.

Maybe they should've walked back?

She acted like everything was cool and that was the problem. Reese didn't pay any attention to Jaune. While she mused, he focused. That strong, delightful scent of candy rocked his nose and he breathed it in, loving the smell and the way it spread throughout his body like a warm chill.

It was tantalizing.

It made him unintentionally squeeze her tighter. Peppermint suited her. It was heavy and strong, but not overbearing and tasty on the senses, definitely made it easier to ignore the floor below his feet when his nose and mouth weren't fighting against him the entire time in the sky. The tilting of the board when Reese moved and turned didn't affect him when his chest felt light. He no longer wobbled so much and actually enjoyed the sensation of wind against his skin.

When they reach the park, only Reese got off and Jaune surprised her by taking a chance and thrusting his foot forward. He zoomed forward, enjoying the lingering scent of her person and used it to calm his stomach, tilting his body when he needed to shift his center of mass at the right angles. There were evident moments when his lack of skill shined through, and he ended up hugging the board at the end, but this time he managed to land on his feet with his gyroscope hardly affected due to his weak stomach. It wasn't perfect, obviously, but not feeling queasy at the end of it was more than a victory for him.

Reese crossed her arms and grinned. "Well, well, look at you! What happened to that weak stomach of yours? I was expecting you to be throwing up chunks."

Jaune shrugged, wondering if she always looked like one of those candies. "I guess I got over it." She wanted to laugh, but his mocking smile put a stop to that. "Now... ready to learn to dance?"

She really didn't want to with the way he extended his hand out in a dramatic pose. "Uh, no?"

"It was rhetorical."

"I'm still gonna say no."

...

Somebody shoot her now.

Reese growled and gripped the edges of her purple dress, wanting nothing more than to tear off the ballerina getup. Give her shorts and a hoodie any day of the week! This was complete and total torture. How or why did he even own a dress? Where'd he even get one on such short notice? Why did Beacon even have a dance studio in the first place! Who danced? Who the hell danced?

Damn it! Well, at least it was just the two of them here. She'd just die of embarrassment if someone saw her in this fruity dress.

Stuck looking like a total girl, she huffed and threw her arms to her side, frowning. "Arg! How do people wear these?! I look like a complete tool!"

Jaune walked up to her and offered a hand. "Ready to start?"

Her mood reflected her face, completely monotone. "You're way too comfortable strutting around in that outfit, you know that?"

Jaune's outfit consisted of a pair of sleek, smooth dress pants that clung effortlessly to his legs and hips. Mix in a tight, forming-fitting, white shirt. For some reason, he stuck to his sneakers, but none of his dumb elegance appeared to be drowned underneath them.

Did the guy act embarrassed in the outfit? That was a fat no.

"You have to be comfortable with what you're wearing..." he mused. "Or else the clothing's going to restrict your movements. And we can't have that." Reese said nothing and he motioned her to move. "C'mon, get over here. We're going to see how good you are with dancing. We'll start with the Tango."

She reluctantly moved, wishing for her torment to end. The very moment she entered his personal space, Jaune swiftly grabbed her hand and pulled her close. He clasped her hand and held above their shoulders, looping her other around his back while his snaked around her back. Even when pressed chest to chest, Jaune didn't falter or stutter around her body. This dancing stuff was something he apparently took very seriously.

Reese was so glad her team wasn't around to see this. That calculated and self-assured glare he adopted erased that entire funny, foolish funk he had before. Gone was dopey, uncool Jaune Arc. In his place was confident and serious Jaune Arc. His grip on her was loose but firm. Not to mention the way he clasped her small back with his strong arm, well, she already knew her feet were jelly on the ground.

"So what now?"

Jaune breathed in and exhaled. "We're going to practice on maintaining a perfect posture. So hold your head high. Align your back straight. And lift your torso and stomach. If any of this is messed up, then it's going to all fall apart. Got it?" Reese numbly nodded. "Good! Now, just relax and follow my lead."

Without any other warning, he moved forward with his left and she attempted the same, instantly bumping into his knee. He didn't reprimand her and simply moved his leg, pushing her back to mirror his movements. This time when he moved his right forward, she moved her left backward. He followed suit with another left forward and she moved her right backward. Then he moved to the right with his right, and she attempted to follow but ended up stepping on his foot again.

Jaune hardly reacted to her rough step, thanking Oum for his Aura.

They tried again from the beginning, against her groaning, and she ended up stepping on his toes a few more times, not even getting the easy turn in the process. When it was apparent their progress wasn't showing results, not after stepping on his toes a dozen more times, she pushed him away and huffed, arms crossed in a dress.

"This is dumb! What does dancing have to do with my balance or whatever it was you called it! Whatever it is, I don't need it, especially if it's going to make me wear a stupid dress! I can balance myself just fine on Mattel!"

He regarded her question for all but a minute, seeing her point. Not in her center of mass being dumb because it wasn't, but the point of her needing it. Reese did indeed have the capabilities to balance herself. He remembered it all too well from their trip across Vale. So, that wasn't exactly the problem at hand.

The question then what was her issue.

Needing some time to think, Jaune grabbed a chair and placed it in front of her, remembering a certain trick his mother had taught him. "I'll make you a deal, if you can stand up from this chair, then we'll try it a different way."

Reese suddenly grinned. "Is that all? This is going to be a cinch—!"

"Without bending your feet or bending forward."

She waved her hand with ease. "Tch! Watch and be amazed! I'll show this chair who's boss!"

He wished her all the luck in Remnant, opting to ponder while Reese continued to try and accomplish the impossible. By sitting away from her, he ignored her frustrated puffs and tried to solve her center of mass problem.

For someone so nimble in the air, Reese lacked the finesse on the ground.

From what he recounted on their trip, she had little trouble maintaining a perfect center of gravity when it came to hoverboarding, even when he held onto her stomach for dear life. Sharp twists and turns meant nothing to her. Instinctively, she knew when to bend her body back or thrust her knees forward when it mattered, allowing the board to attribute for her feet.

By his logic, she needed to be in constant motion to maintain proper balance. Her center of mass rested more inclined to her back, arms, and butt. While crude, it was plainly true. The hoverboard allowed her to maneuver her body while hardly affecting her foot placement. This way allowed her to constantly shift her center of mass without actually moving. Sure, she had walking and running down like any other person, but what she made up for in the air, she lacked on the floor. When she stumbled, her brain hardly reacted and her muscles never moved on time, hence why the Tango utterly failed at the most basics of steps.

In laymen's terms, she had two left feet.

So, whenever she fell or misplaced a step, it was met more than with simple stumbling or lackluster movement. It usually ended up with her falling or stepping on his feet. She never knew where to move her arms or legs. Her center of mass was all over the place. Unlike her hoverboard, where she could maintain a constant gravity and prop her body in the correct position at the last possible second with a fixed level, Reese had little actual training in foot placement. The board graciously allowed her a limited and narrow space to work with.

If she were to fall on a patch of ice, he didn't doubt the idea of her losing footing and falling. He'd be further amazed if she managed to upright herself and account for the gravity working against her.

With all that in mind, curing her two left wasn't the issue, she just wouldn't get past her faults in time for the tournament. It was just a few days away. He needed to try a different approach, something where she could be in her element, fast and balancing, and still learn the basics of movement and control over her center mass.

Only one idea came to mind, but Jaune wasn't sure if she'd go for it. Honestly, he'd rather try a different approach.

"Ah!"

Turning around, he smirked at the way she forced her arms to her side, plainly frustrated in her nonexistent progress. A girly pout adorned her face, lighting up her nose in clear, red frustration. The way she wiggled in place only made the picture more amusing to watch.

"Here's a hint... you can't do it."

"Shut up! It's going to happen!"

Shrugging his shoulders over her loss, Jaune sighed in defeat when no other options came to mind. If dancing wasn't going to cut it—at least not in the interval of time they had—then plan B it was.

Dear Monty Oum, he prayed that Nora never learned of this particular skill of his.

...

When Jaune had decided to call it quits on dancing, Reese was more than ready to slip out of the dress, toss it, and slip into her threads, but he had put a stop to that. He made sure she kept the dress in her bag and motioned her to follow him into Vale. The ride on the Bullhead was an interesting one. Motion sickness still plagued him, but then he plopped a candy into his mouth and balanced himself on the airship a few seconds later.

Why that little candy calmed his nerves, she didn't have a clue.

The second they got off the airship, she jumped in front of him, arms out to block his path. "Hey? You mind telling me where you're taking me?"

He sighed awkwardly. "Well, since you have no talent for dance, we'll have to go to extreme lengths if you want to be ready for the Vytal Tournament."

"Oh?" Reese echoed. "And what sort of extreme lengths do you have in mind. It isn't some musical, is it? Is that why you made me keep the dress? Because of it is... I'm out! Gone!"

"No, no, it's nothing like that. It's just.." he sighed and carefully looked over his shoulder. "Look, please don't tell my team about this. I'm already down enough in masculinity and this would just seal the deal. I'll never hear the end of it from one my teammates."

"I'm still waiting to hear what it is."

He grinned and waved his hand for her to follow. Annoyed she didn't receive a straight answer; Reese pouted and followed the Arc, wondering what sort of extreme measures he could honestly be yammering about. She learned what he meant when they finally reached their destination, and at first, she laughed, thinking it nothing more than an elaborate joke. When he failed to laugh with her, adopting a somewhat serious smirk, she went into a coughing fit and pointed at the attraction in clear panic.

"You're joking, right? This has to be some sort of joke? Good one!" Jaune failed to laugh and her smile quickly died. "You're serious? Oh my Oum, you're freakin' serious! No way! Uh-uh! There's zero chance you're getting me in there!"

Zero must've lost its meaning a long time ago because Reese Chloris was stuck wearing the dress again, except she had her hoodie over some of it. This time with a pair of black stockings to match and a pair of ice-skates. She still couldn't believe he dragged her butt here.

An ice rink! Jaune took her to an ice rink. Of all the places! She had no clue Vale had such a thing, and now here she was, waiting at the edge of the rink while Jaune went to rent them a pair of skates. When he returned, she immediately cupped her hands.

"Is it too late to go back to dancing?"

Jaune laughed and gave her the skates. "What? Too chicken to go out on the ice? You have chicken legs now?"

Reese huffed, refused them, and pointed at the other people skating. "No! But I have an image to keep! And I'm not trying to flush that away by making myself look like an idiot on the ice! At the stupid dance studio it was private, but here... there are people here."

He smiled softly. "Don't worry about them; they're here to skate too. They're not paying any attention to us. Just look."

She paused and looked around. He was right—damn it—none of them were paying either of them a squat of attention. However, she was still adamant about leaving. "What are we even doing here? Figure skating's lame."

He chastised her in the lightest sense by shaking her skates. "It's not lame. It's good practice for teaching you balance and control. And this way you might be able to learn if you're moving. C'mon, give it a chance. We're already here or are you afraid you'll fall again?"

She wouldn't take that lying down and put the dumb skates on, barely able to keep herself from wobbling. "Ugh! These skates are hard to balance on. I can barely stand."

He laughed. "And we're not even on the ice yet. Alright! Let's get inside, I'll teach you the basics of ice-skating!"

When she tried to move, she stumbled forward and ended up gripping the bottom half of his hoodie, feet wobbly. "Don't let go of me!"

"We're not even on the ice yet." She didn't release him. "Alright, we'll go slowly. Just hold onto me and don't fall."

"Ha-ha."

Entering the rink, he glided in with Reese stubbornly holding onto his hoodie. The moment her skates touched the ice, she reached out and clamped his arm in a vice-grip, shaking with a mismatched balance. For someone so confident in the air, the ground sure threw her off.

Smiling, he led her deeper into the rink, skilled at the art of ice-skating. Just a secret he kept from his days of being a momma's boy. As if the dancing wasn't already a dead giveaway. Still, his team and friends had yet to notice or see the connection and he aimed to keep it like that.

Pulling her close, he wrapped an arm around her waist and she held firmly onto his hoodie, nervous above the ice. They moved slow, very slow with her constantly throwing a hand forward, hoping it'd keep her balance. The action was amusing as it made it hard to keep her still with her constantly shifting her center of mass from one spot to another. Ice-skating wasn't like dancing or hoverboarding, it required a different type of balance.

Once she managed to stop wobbling, he began to shift a bit. "Alright, I'm going to let you go now."

"And I'm going to clobber you if you do that!"

He grinned at her heated nose. "Don't worry, I'm not expecting you to jump and do a triple salchow or anything—!"

"A triple what?"

"I just want you to skate from the wall and back. This should be easy for the number one student at Haven Academy."

Damn him!

"Fine!" Reese frowned and accepted the challenge. "How hard can going in a straight line be?"

When Jaune released her, she waved her hands in mini circles, throwing her body weight back and forth in an effort to keep herself up. She refused to admit defeat. It was only ice. If she learned how to tame the wind, then this element should be a cinch!

Jaune watched Reese throw her body around with little care. When it came to ice-skating, the center of mass meant the most here. When simply standing, all the mass focused below the navel of the body and it shifted depending on how the body bent. By bending far enough, it'd move outside the body. Like if she really wanted to stop herself from wobbling, all she would need to do was bend her arms down, or she could raise them up.

Either way worked.

Skates sort of made balancing difficult, he'd admit. Whatever stability she had on her own two feet were long gone. That much was obvious with her inability to remain standing, but he had faith in her. She was already bending her knees to pull her mass over the skates, creating something akin to stability. So, her brain was working to solve the problem. Too bad she didn't pick up speed doing so.

There wasn't Dust to compensate against gravity or a board to narrow her footing; she had to account for both when skating while making sure her center of mass didn't drop her by ill-placed foot placement.

Back to Reese, she was panicking, moving painstakingly slow in her stuck position. Reaching the wall like this hardly felt like a win in her book. She wanted nothing more to wipe that smug grin off Jaune's face and slowly gliding to the wall wasn't going to cut it.

Being brave, she experimented and leaned forward with one leg bent and other thrown back, moving her hands out to reach the wall, but that ended up being her first mistake. Her balance was shot, shaking from the equal distribution of mass from leaning too far forward with arms thrown too far out.

Oh no!

She suddenly couldn't maintain her balance! She tried swinging her arms into circles, kicking her feet out in an effort to level herself, but there was no way to stop it. She was going to fall on her butt and make a complete fool out of herself in front of everyone!

Her worst nightmares never came true. Jaune had quickly swooped in and grabbed her by the triceps before she could fall, grinning down at her imbalanced body.

"You're enjoying this."

"No. No. No. Yes!" Jaune admitted. "But that was good. You made it farther than I thought you would. But how about I teach you some forms?"

He quickly pulled her up and left her standing there, thrusting his body forward to pick up speed. Then he flipped around and began moving backwards in an arc, generating angular momentum by skating on a curve. As soon as he found a comfortable spot, he started spinning in place with his leg thrown back in what was called a camel spin, just one of the three basic spins of figure skating.

He quickly followed up with a sit spin, lowering his body and thrusting both arms and one foot forward to spin faster in place. And finally, he got up and focused into an upright spin, folding one foot over the other with his arms drawn in, picking up a massive rotation, before sliding back to a stunned Reese.

Sighing, he threw his arm out. "So? Ready to give it another go?"

She blanched. "What? Are you insane? I can't do any of that!"

"I know."

It was her turn to put two-and-two together. "You're just showing off, jerk!"

She aimed a fist at his chest, making sure to add extra oomph behind her smack. Jaune had to grab her wrists. "Hey! Hey! I know you can't do them, yet. Trust me, with a little practice and time, Haven's best student will have it down in no time. If you could master this, then your set! Unless, you know, you're not up for it?"

Humphing at his double-edged praise, she hit in the chest once. "Your flattery is skating on thin ice, Vomit Boy!"

Jaune accepted the warning and held her close, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Alright, we'll start off slow and I'll show you the steps."

Reese forgot how much she hated being this close to the dummy. She forgot just how tall he was. And why was it so hot all of a sudden? There was ice everywhere!

Anyways, she mirrored his movements to the best of his abilities, keeping him at arm's length as he began to push her slightly away. First, he pushed a foot back and bent one knee forward, except, unlike her, he only moved his arms out slightly. Then, like a runner, he pushed hard and fast. With a strong push of the side of the blade, he suddenly glided faster than her and offered her a side smirk.

Not wanting to be shown up, she copied the action. She used the side of the blade to push, bending her knees deep and low. Her chest copied his, down with her back flat while pushing from side-to-side. Unlike the jerk, she only managed some buildup, but it was far better than her earlier attempt than when she tried to reach the wall.

Reese glared and pushed deeper into the ice, attempting to grab the most power out of her push and catch-up to the arc, but when the end of the ice rink was incoming, she suddenly realized she didn't know how to stop. Throwing her arms back and arching her body in a panic didn't help; she only haphazardly threw off her center of gravity.

 _Crash_!

This was the _third_ time she had crashed into this same chest today.

"Not bad. You're getting better."

Jerk.

...

Blake Belladonna might as well be a ninja.

Her trapped worked like a charm.

Reese Chloris had fallen for her ice clone and ended up suspended in air, free-falling with little chance to recover her footing in that angle. As soon as she landed on the ice, it'd be over. That damage would spike her almost to edge of her Aura. Blake almost hummed in appreciation for her clever use of terrain, but she was expecting a nasty fall to plague her opponent any moment and had a prepared a small moment of sympathy for her.

What the Faunus hadn't anticipated was Reese using the balls of her feet to slide on the ice in a counter-clockwise spin that resembled that of an upright spin a figure skater did. She dipped her toes and spun with a leg arched over the other, arms closed in, stunning Blake. Then, like a spring, she released herself and used the heightened momentum to arch herself over to raven-haired female, maneuvering with the grace of a ballerina.

She practically danced toward Blake, maneuvering on the ice with almost perfect balance. Eventually, she'd perfect the technique, but not now. Now she owed a certain person a camel kick to the face!

...

"Yea! Way to go, Reese! You can do it!"

Nora blinked with a scoopful of popcorn in her mouth. "Jaune? Did you forget? We're supposed to be rooting for Team RWBY! And who's Reese?"

Before he had a chance to answer, the match was concluded with Team ABRN being declared the winners. Without Blake to set up the finishing throw, Yang had lacked the momentum to deliver a devastating blow to finish off Team ABRN. They had quickly capitalized on her seclusion from her teammates and ended up throwing her out-of-bounds. The rest quickly followed with Reese distracting Blake long enough by skating around her.

She still had rough spots and her technique needed a lot of work, but there was definite progress. The days they'd practiced showed.

Team ABRN waved to the crowd, all except the tomboy, who was busy doing tricks on her hoverboard for the crowd's viewing pleasure. She then stunned them all by hovering away from the battle arena, against her teammate's cries, spotting Jaune in a sea of faces.

She reached him and didn't allow him a chance to speak. Instead, the girl gripped and yanked one of his arms forward, pulling out a pen from her hoodie's pocket. The remaining members of Team JNPR were stunned to see a member of Team ABRN scribbling something down on their Fearless Leader's arm in permanent ink.

"Reese? What are you—?" She ignored him and capped the pen in satisfaction. "Hey? What'd you write on my arm?"

Reese grinned with her tongue out, slapped her butt and winked at him with her hand replicating an old-school phone before taking off on her hoverboard. The message was lost on him, but when Jaune Arc turned his arm to his side, he found a series of numbers written down with a bold line of text underlined in large, cursive font.

 _You better call me!_

* * *

 **Author Notes:** I'm probably going to write a one-shot with each girl. I'll write anything if my muse says go for it.


End file.
